Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Tesla advances following Deutsche Bank upgradeShares of electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) are rising after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and raised its price target on the shares to $310 from $220. WHAT'S NEW: This morning, Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache upgraded Tesla, citing guidance issued by the company on its second quarter earnings conference call. On the call, Tesla's management indicated that its growth trajectory will be steeper, its product mix much richer, and its costs significantly lower than previously thought. Lache increased his growth forecasts as a result, taking up his FY15-FY17 volume estimates to 60,000, 100,000, and 129,000 units from previous views of 51,000, 60,000, and 83,000 units, respectively. The analyst added that even these forecasts may prove conservative since Tesla expects to end 2014 and 2015 with 50,000 and 100,000 units of capacity. The firm sees a clear path to 500,000 units of annual production by the end of the decade and expects growth to continue as Tesla continues to seek additional production capacity. In terms of product mix, Deutsche expects Tesla sales to gravitate more towards the Model S and X versus the Model 3, thus increasing their profitability. In addition, Tesla is targeting battery pack costs of $150/kWh by late 2017 versus about $250/kWh today, and they see costs falling below $100/kWh within ten years. If achieved, these levels could provide an outright cost advantage for Tesla's electric vehicles compared to their gas operated competitors. WHAT'S NOTABLE: Based on the improved outlook, the analyst now expects EPS in the $27 range by 2020, up from his prior view of $20. Lache raised his 12-month price target on the shares to $310 from $220. PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, Tesla rose $12.54, or 5%, to $260.67. Including today's advance, the stock is up approximately 70% over the past 12 months.

Tesla should be bought aggresively at current levels, says RW BairdRW Baird said its recent meetings with Tesla management make the firm more comfortable with delivery guidance and the Model X debuting in Q3. The firm believes the company's production should significantly increase throughout the year, that demand is still strong in North America, and that developed markets are still showing growth. Baird said if Tesla shares are pressured today in a “sell the news” reaction to the company's "range anxiety" event, they would be aggressive buyers of the stock and noted that Tesla remains its top pick for 2015. The firm has an Outperform rating and $275 price target on the stock.

Sunrun powers up for IPO later this year, WSJ reportsSunrun, a solar-energy company, is said to be working with Credit Suisse (CS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) on a potential IPO for later this year, sources tell The Wall Street Journal, which adds that the company was valued at $1.3B as of March 2014. Other solar companies that have gone public in recent years include residential solar installers like Vivint Solar (VSLR), backed by Blackstone (BX), and SolarCity (SCTY), backed by Tesla's (TSLA) Elon Musk. Reference Link

Tesla CEO calls autonomous cars 'solved,' says Tesla will be leader, WSJ saysTesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk believes self-driving cars are "a solved problem... we know exactly what to do and we will be there in a few years," reports the Wall Street Journal, citing statements given at the Nvidia (NVDA) graphical processor conference Tuesday. Musk added that "I think [Tesla] will be the leader in autonomous cars that you can actually buy." The Journal notes that Nvidia will make its autonomous car development platform available in May to researchers and car makers. Reference Link